Background

Data and Approach

We used IRS tax data for the state of Tennessee to review income levels by zip code, along with other financial variables, to find correlation with county level school data. We analyzed school and tax data separately, as well as their influence on each other. The data sources for our research have been included in our Sources Cited.

Cleaning the Data

Some school districts reported a graduation rate of 0%. Obviously, this is not accurate, and were likely empty values. We removed this data as to not influence the averages per CORE Region. We also identified instances where county data did not map exactly between tax and shool data. We were able to leverage the zip code crosswalk to join these datasets, as well as some data cleansing to ensure DeKalb County was properly recognized.

AGI and ACT Maps

As expected, a higher income from a particular county does result in a lower percentage of students that qualify as “Economically Disadvantaged” - students that qualified for free or reduced lunches.

Maps Row {data-width = 60}

Adjusted Gross Income

Economically Disadvantaged

Average ACT Composite Scores

.

Text Row {data-width = 20}

Adjusted Gross Income

As you can see, Williamson County is highlighted with having the highest average AGI per tax return filing, at $106,874. Other counties highlighted appear to be located near 3 other major cities - Knoxville, Memphis, Chattanooga.

Economically Disadvantaged

The Economically disavantaged areas don’t appear to be as drastically separated. It seems the economically dxisadvantaged county shading is more gradual as you get further from the major cities. This is not absolute, as Davidson County / Nashville, falls in the much darker region having 75% economically disadvantaged.

Average ACT Composite Scores

With the average ACT composite scores by county, Williamson County is again highlighted and has the highest scores, with an average of 23.8. Unlike the other maps, scores do not appear to have a pattern or relationship across the state or in relation to the 4 major cities.

Table Row {data-width = 20}

Returns filed per AGI Range

County Average AGI Average ACT Score
Anderson County 47598.31 21.50000
Bedford County 48733.70 18.40000
Benton County 40579.44 18.40000
Bledsoe County 38997.71 19.20000
Blount County 53798.19 21.56667
Bradley County 53493.98 18.85000
Campbell County 39108.35 17.20000
Cannon County 50356.32 18.60000
Carroll County 40415.95 18.70000
Carter County 38068.34 18.30000
Cheatham County 57492.07 21.10000
Chester County 41225.54 19.70000
Claiborne County 38397.34 17.70000
Clay County 33696.50 18.40000
Cocke County 35666.82 18.30000
Coffee County 51586.98 21.20000
Crockett County 42510.03 19.10000
Cumberland County 45917.15 19.60000
Davidson County 83492.72 18.70000
Decatur County 44592.55 18.60000
DeKalb County 39835.26 17.70000
Dickson County 48861.01 21.00000
Dyer County 44125.39 21.50000
Fayette County 74655.39 16.60000
Fentress County 38943.85 17.40000
Franklin County 47149.80 18.70000
Gibson County 44562.11 18.70000
Giles County 45945.13 18.20000
Grainger County 41012.41 18.00000
Greene County 40741.73 20.10000
Grundy County 37660.87 17.60000
Hamblen County 43860.86 19.70000
Hamilton County 70481.95 18.90000
Hancock County 29375.88 17.40000
Hardeman County 38590.02 17.70000
Hardin County 39761.51 18.90000
Hawkins County 40898.83 19.30000
Haywood County 36956.43 17.40000
Henderson County 41081.96 19.50000
Henry County 43427.78 19.60000
Hickman County 42446.03 18.40000
Houston County 42316.27 19.20000
Humphreys County 49649.05 18.90000
Jackson County 37193.97 18.40000
Jefferson County 45223.32 19.50000
Johnson County 41561.39 19.20000
Knox County 61691.74 20.70000
Lake County 36289.49 16.40000
Lauderdale County 39533.60 17.60000
Lawrence County 41247.38 19.20000
Lewis County 40393.37 18.50000
Lincoln County 48807.25 19.45000
Loudon County 58809.21 18.85000
Macon County 37633.80 18.50000
Madison County 44495.83 17.30000
Marion County 40066.07 19.40000
Marshall County 46876.64 18.90000
Maury County 49465.89 18.60000
McMinn County 44495.48 18.90000
McNairy County 40886.36 18.60000
Meigs County 52311.88 19.20000
Monroe County 49577.64 17.90000
Montgomery County 49796.82 19.40000
Moore County 53958.57 18.50000
Morgan County 40682.56 17.90000
Obion County 43606.11 20.10000
Overton County 40238.23 18.90000
Perry County 40373.38 18.00000
Pickett County 41026.03 19.70000
Polk County 40849.24 17.90000
Putnam County 47826.43 19.60000
Rhea County 44102.58 18.60000
Roane County 48483.25 19.00000
Robertson County 50734.07 19.40000
Rutherford County 58436.21 19.90000
Scott County 36891.79 18.10000
Sequatchie County 46376.21 19.40000
Sevier County 43537.97 20.30000
Shelby County 64003.41 19.78571
Smith County 44580.46 18.50000
Stewart County 44119.51 19.40000
Sullivan County 51764.22 21.13333
Sumner County 54472.98 20.40000
Tipton County 49838.44 19.70000
Trousdale County 41168.93 20.80000
Unicoi County 44097.11 18.10000
Union County 43967.83 17.40000
Van Buren County 38670.39 18.40000
Warren County 41360.04 18.40000
Washington County 51582.09 21.00000
Wayne County 39795.17 18.20000
Weakley County 41090.06 19.70000
White County 38872.40 18.70000
Williamson County 106873.91 23.80000
Wilson County 59429.26 20.00000

Sources

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Packages Used

DT::datatable(devtools::session_info()$packages) * readxl
* ggplot2
* knitr
* dplyr
* tidyr
* PerformanceAnalytics
* maps
* mapdata
* mapproj
* ggmap
* plotly
* GGally
* corrplot
* MASS
* tidyverse
* gapminder